


Why Would a Rabbit Need an Eye Patch?

by Peggy_Cherepaha



Category: Original Work
Genre: Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-11 01:10:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7018936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggy_Cherepaha/pseuds/Peggy_Cherepaha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short story about a fox and a rabbit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why Would a Rabbit Need an Eye Patch?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the rabbit plush in Kuroshitsuji.  
> My tumblr is peggy-cherepaha.tumblr.com

The fox crouched in the tall grass. She crept forward on the dirt, flicking her ear when a fly buzzed around it. Her gaze was pinpointed on a rabbit, his small nose twitching around a bright purple flower. She had carefully planned this encounter. The sun was slightly behind her, its golden rays pointed at the rabbit so that it would blind him if he looked toward her. The air was still, so her scent wouldn't travel quickly.

Meanwhile, the rabbit seemed to sense danger, as he abandoned his treat to sniff at the air. The fox tensed her back legs, feeling the energy building up in her muscles as she prepared to leap.

"Stop," the rabbit said, "please don't!"

The fox remained tense, fur standing up in surprise at the odd reaction of a rabbit that should be running away.

"Please, my mate just had babies, I need to take care of them."

The fox resisted the instinct to tilt her head. She was intrigued by the rabbit's behavior but couldn't show any sign of weakness.

"You should be running," the fox said. The rabbit was violently shaking but stood his ground.

"I know that I can't outrun you. But I will willingly offer myself to you when my children can take care of themselves."

The fox thought for a moment. She decided that this deal the rabbit seemed to be proposing was interesting enough that she could forgo devouring him. She relaxed her body and raised herself up, still somewhat hidden by the grass but obviously towering over him. He crouched down slightly but stayed where he was.

"Are you proposing a deal?" The fox asked.

"I am," the rabbit said. "I promise that if you let me go, and don't follow, then I will visit your den in the winter so that you can eat me."

The fox took one step forward, a gesture of dominance, and she was glad to see the rabbit take a step back out of instinct.

"I will need something from you before we make the deal."

The rabbit's head lifted slightly, ears erect and pointed at her.

"I beg you to take something that will not impair me too harshly," the rabbit said.

"You use your ears and nose to sense predators, so I imagine you can live without an eye," the fox said.

The rabbit crouched low on the ground, and amazingly fought his instincts as the fox strode toward him, the sun catching her brilliant red coat and making her glow with confidence.

She put her front paw on his back and pressed down, holding him in place, and she bowed her head down, baring her teeth. He started to squirm, his pupils blown wide in terror, but he wasn't able to move from his position. She was able to gouge the eye out easily enough, her front teeth slipping under the eyelids and around the eye to slice through the tendons holding it in place.

The fox pulled back with the eye in her mouth. The rabbit stayed on the ground, holding his front paw to the now empty socket. She set the eye down next to her and then looked at him.

"My den is near here, just follow the rising sun. I expect you there in winter on the shortest day. If you do not comply, I will use the scent from the eye to track you," the fox said.

The rabbit didn't say anything, instead he turned and ran, hopping into the grass and out of sight. The fox picked up the eye and headed toward her own den.

 

* * *

 

The sun had just set on the shortest day. The fox was standing at the entrance to her den, ears pointed forward and nose sniffing the air. She couldn’t scent the rabbit, and she chastised herself on underestimating his intelligence.

Just as the fox was thinking of giving up and going back into her den, something caught her eye. She looked out into the unforgiving cold, the ground covered in deep snow and the horizon looking gray and dull without the sun. She spotted the rabbit struggling to make its way through the snow banks that were almost as tall as him. As he came closer, she still couldn’t smell him well, as the wind wasn’t blowing in her favor, but she could tell it was him by the empty eye socket.

The fox laid down with her legs tucked under her at the entrance to her den, a burrow she had taken from a smaller animal and dug out more so that it would fit her. The position she was in gave her the appearance of casual confidence, but in reality, gave her the upper hand in case she needed to leap suddenly.

The rabbit finally made its way to her, breathing heavily and shaking from both fear and the cold.

“I have arrived, just like we agreed,” the rabbit said, his voice quivering.

“Just like we agreed,” the fox repeated with a faint growl in her voice.

It was perhaps the wrong move as the rabbit’s instincts took over, forcing him to quickly turn tail and try to make a run for it. But he was no match for the fox who, with a great push of her hind legs, pounced into the air and landed with her front paws on the his soft back, crushing the bones of his spine instantly. The frail body continued to twitch with the last of its nerves as she brought and head down and crushed his neck with her powerful jaws.

As the fox bore down in order to properly cut off the windpipe, she noticed the empty eye socket start to gush blood. Satisfied that the body would no longer move, she quickly ate the raw flesh, and stashed the bones in her den to gnaw on later. Just as she was making her way deeper into the warmth of her den, she noticed something outside. She peered out of her den and saw that there was a perfect set of footprints left in the snow by the rabbit, probably leading straight to his own den where his mate and possibly his children would be snuggling up against the cold night.

The fox looked behind her into her own den, peered once again out into the snowy landscape, then turned and lumbered back inside to sleep.


End file.
